Hood catch



p 1931- R. G. MOORE 1,822,164

HOOD CATCH Filed Feb. 21. 1928 IN V EN T 0R. FE YMUND Er. M00121 z WW A TTORNEY:

Patented Sept. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES PA ENT OFFIE RAYMOND Gr. MOORE, 0F BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT noon career Application filed February 21, 1928. Serial No. 255,957;

The present invention relates to automobile hood catches, and has for an object to provide an improved latch of the type adapted, in addition to holding down the hood, to also force the same inwardly, and thereby effectively secure it against looseness and rattling.

A further object is to provide such a catch which will compensate for variations in the position of the hood, so that wear and inaccurate placing of the catch will not effect its proper functioning. Another object is to provide a catch in which the movable parts will be so located as not to contact with the surface of the car or the barrel of the catch, so that the same will not mar or injure the finish.

With the above and other objects in view, an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, and this embodiment will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the clalm.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, t of a hood catch, according to the present embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, showing in dotted lines the initial engaging position with the keeper, and in full lines the final or operative engaging position;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the hood catch,

' according to the present embodiment of the invention, consists of a cylindrical barrel 10, flanged at its lower end, as at 11, to provide a reduced passage in which a rod 12 is slidably engaged, the end of the rod within the'barrel being provided with a fixed washer 13, between which and the flange 11 a spring 14 is coiled about the rod.

The lower end of the rod 12 has a head or upset 15 engaged in a dome-shaped slotted 5 base member 16 secured to the sill-piece of the automobile frame.

The barrel is provided at its upper end with upstanding ears 17 and 18, between which a handle 19, having a keeper engaging hook end 20, is pivotally mounted on a cross pin 21.

In its disengaged position the handle is suba radial line intersecting the pivotal axis, so

that upon rotation .ofthe handle the distance between vertical lines intersecting said ful crum point and the pivotal axis decreased proportionately to the degree of rotation. The automobile hood 25, which in its closed position is engaged against a stop flange 26,

secured'to the frame, is provided with a keeper27 for engagement by the hook to I draw the hood downwardly toward the frame under the pressure of thespring 14. Between the barrel and the hood there is provided a bumper or stop 28, preferably resilient, and

;.set in a clamping socket 29 formed at the lower end of the base 30 of the keeper.

The operationis as follows:

As shown in Fig. 1 the catch is contracted, the pivoted handle being in a horizontal position. The same is pulled upwardly against the pressure of the spring to a point permitting engagement with the keeper, and is thereupon released, the handle rotating to a position as shown in. full lines, Fig. 3 and bringing the barrel inwardly into' pressing engagement with the bumper, so that the one-- directional force of the spring is distributed into components exerting both a downward and an inward force or pressure upon the hood to securely clamp it in closed position.

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated a modified form of the invention in which a bumper block 31 is secured in .a socket clamp 32 formed upon the barrel, the function and operation being the same as in the first embodiment. It will be understood that the bumper block maybe of any desirable shape or material, and may be attached in any suit-- able manner. The material preferably employed is rubber.

The term side engaging surface, employed in the claim, will be understood as a 5 generic expression to indicate surface on the barrel which bears laterally against the hood, being either the surface of the barrel which engages the bumper on the hood, or a. bumper on the side of the barrel which engages the hood.

I have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory embodiments of the invention, but it will be obvious that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is In a hood catch a hold-down clamp comprising an extensible and contractible pulldown member pivotally secured at its lower end, a side engaging surface at one side of said hold-down member, a keeper engaging member pivotally mounted upon the upper end of said hold-down member relatively movable with respect to said side engaging surface and including a hook portion at one side of the pivot and a handle portion at the other side, stop means on said hold-down member adapted to limit pivotal movement of said pivoted member against lifting pressure on said handle portion to a position in which said hook portion is in substantially horizontal alignment with the pivotal axis and permitting pivotal movement in the other direction, spring means acting on said hold-down member adapted to yieldingly engage said keeper engaging member with said keeper and exerting a downward pressure thereon, said keeper acting as a fulcrum about which said member is adapted to swing downwardly from said horizontally aligned position and whereby said pivotal axis and said hold-down clamp swings inwardly toward the hood, said side engaging surface adapted upon the inward swinging of said holddown member to exert an inward pressure upon the hood under the action of said spring means.

Signed at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, and State of Connecticut, this 23rd day of January, 1928.

RAYMOND G. MOORE. 

